HITWIRE Releases Story On Union Pension Investments That Have Fueled Economic Recovery In Minnesota's Twin Cities

MINNEAPOLIS, Dec. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust's HITWIRE today released a story citing its efforts to fuel economic recovery in Minnesota'sTwin Cities. Since 2009, the HIT has invested $197 million of union pension capital into development projects in the state, while creating an estimated 1,860 union construction jobs and creating or preserving more than 2,280 housing units.

The story notes that The Penfield, a comprehensive mixed-use development under construction in downtown St. Paul, is a key part of the city's downtown redevelopment program. It will bring quality market-rate housing and a full-service grocery store to the area, while also creating jobs and sparking ongoing economic growth.

"When I took office in 2006, the Penfield project was one of our number one priorities," St. Paul Mayor Christopher B. Coleman says in the story. "We knew it would help the rest of the city develop. The challenge was, as the economy collapsed, the resources that we needed [for] the project were scarcer and scarcer. It was the Housing Investment Trust that allowed us the resources we needed to get this project in the ground and get people to work building it."

The story, like others on the HITWIRE (www.aflciohitwire.com), is available to be republished by media outlets and websites free of charge.

HITWIRE documents the stories of union men and women helping to revive communities across the nation. It also tells the stories of communities and residents whose quality of life has been enhanced by projects built with union pension funds and union labor.

HITWIRE is produced by the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust, a $4.6 billion fixed-income investment company that has put the pension capital from union members to work in local communities for nearly 50 years. To learn more about the HIT, please visit www.aflcio-hit.com.